The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) has criticised the City of Harare's decision to evict some Mbare residents and disconnect water supplies to households and businesses over unpaid bills arguing that the local authority's disputed billing system must first be fixed.

This comes after residents in parts of Mbare were served with eviction notices for allegedly defaulting on rates payments while others had their water supplies cut off as part of a debt recovery blitz.

In an interview with 263chat, CHRA chairperson Rueben Akili said the council's actions were unfair given long-standing concerns over its billing system.

"Some of the people the local authority claims owe money are actually paying their dues. What is important is that the council needs to put its house in order and ensure that its billing system is clear. At the moment it is opaque and chaotic, and only then can they engage residents on payment," Akili said.

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He added that many Mbare residents were living in poor conditions with little service delivery to justify the charges.

"There's sewer gauging all over the neighbourhood. The sanitary situation is dire, especially when the wet season starts. So, at the end of the day, it is not about evicting people but about ensuring that the local authority does what it can so that residents can then meet their obligations," Akili argued.

He said the council should prioritise creating a transparent billing system that allows residents to verify their payments.

"Unfortunately, because of the chaotic nature of the billing system, residents cannot even verify some of the payments they have made. Even the local authority itself cannot properly interpret its own billing, particularly on who owes and who does not," he said.

CHRA has urged the City of Harare to halt evictions and service disconnections until the billing dispute is resolved and service delivery is improved.